McNair Scholars Program

McNair Medical Institute

Brings together the McNair Scholars in the Texas Medical Center to share their research efforts in order to accelerate advancements in science like Dr. Xiang "Shawn" Zhang (pictured), whose research focuses on breast cancer metastasis.

Research Areas

Our scholars pursue collaborative and transformational research in the areas of breast and pancreatic cancer, juvenile diabetes and the neurosciences. Dr. Malgorzata Borowiak (pictured) works on human pancreatic development and pluripotent stem cell technology application towards cellular therapy for type 1 diabetes at Baylor.

McNair Scholars

Dr. Benjamin R. Arenkiel seeks to elucidate the basic mechanisms that guide formation and maintenance of neural circuits in the human brain.

Sharing Knowledge

Sensory System Research

Dr. Xaq Pitkow researches vision and how the brain transforms low-level visual features like oriented edges into higher-level representations of object properties.

McNair Medical Institute at Baylor College of Medicine

McNair Medical Institute at Baylor College of Medicine

The McNair Medical Institute at Baylor College of Medicine brings together the McNair Scholars in the Texas Medical Center to share their research efforts in order to accelerate advancements in science. In announcing the MMI in 2007, Robert C. and Janice McNair described a commitment to collaboration that would be required of all McNair Scholars. See more information about Robert C. and Janice McNair.

The Institute capitalizes on Baylor College of Medicine's relationship with numerous institutions, expediting the discovery process and enabling the entire community to benefit from those discoveries. These McNair Scholars pursue collaborative and transformational research in the areas of breast and pancreatic cancer, juvenile diabetes and the neurosciences.

About the Program

Dr. Kushner's research is focused on the insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas.

The McNair Scholars began when the McNairs established undergraduate scholarship programs at their alma maters, the University of South Carolina (Robert) and Columbia College (Janice) in South Carolina. In 1998, the McNair Scholars program expanded to the Baylor M.D./Ph.D. program by supporting students during their entire training of both medical and graduate school, about eight years. The McNair Scholars program now includes both faculty members and M.D./Ph.D. students and this prestigious program is quickly growing.